Wire guides are elongate flexible members used to provide a path along which another medical device can be moved. The path provided by the wire guide can be used to navigate another medical device, such as a catheter, through a body vessel. The use of wire guides to define such a path is known in the art. Briefly, a wire guide is navigated through a body vessel toward a point of treatment. Once positioned within the vessel, a second medical device, frequently a cannula such as a catheter, is placed over the wire guide and moved along its length toward the point of treatment. Thus, the wire guide provides an established path for placing other devices, eliminating the need for performing delicate navigation procedures for each device passed into the body lumen.
During placement of a wire guide, an operator must navigate the wire guide through the body lumen. Often, the body lumen defines a torturous path due to the presence of natural bends and/or curves, or unnatural impediments, such as tumors, build-ups, and/or strictures. The presence of a torturous path may make navigation of a wire guide difficult. For example, the presence of an impediment may block the wire guide from navigating further into the body lumen. In addition, the presence of a tortuous path may make it difficult to determine the position of the wire guide within the body lumen.
There is an unmet need for a wire guide that can navigate a tortuous path having impediments in which the path and position of the wire guide can be reliably monitored during the navigation.